The Sentinel (TV Series 1996–1999) Poster

(1996–1999)

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8/10
5 episodes in: good cop show wt decent budget and scripts
surfisfun23 July 2020
Surprised i never heard about it. different then other procedural series. watch 3 episodes before deciding worth. hey its a tv show, not real life. still surprise it was not a big hit .
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7/10
A sentinel in the city
stefanozucchelli21 November 2021
A detective story with a detective who has special powers he acquired in the Amazon jungles. I found it a good series even if reviewing it now is perhaps less good than I remember.
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7/10
[6.9] Could have aimed higher
cjonesas9 February 2021
A nice generic entertainment by 90s (1996) standards, that could have strengthened the Sci-Fi eye-candy value, instead of "simple" actions and adventures with flavors of superhuman heightened sensorial perceptions. Maybe the budget wasn't right...

  • Screenplay/story: 7
  • Development: 5
  • Realism: 6
  • Entertainment: 8
  • Acting: 7.5
  • Filming/cinematography: 7.5
  • Special effects: 7.5
  • Music/score: 7.5
  • Depth: 6
  • Logic: 6.5
  • Flow: 7
  • Suspense/thrill: 7.5
  • Ending/closure: 7


That does not lessen very much its entertainment values, which are high, and make sure that you mostly pass great and enjoyable moments.

One of the series that deserves a big reboot after 25 years!
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I'm hooked
Op_Prime23 August 2000
This was a very enjoyable and fun series. Unlike a lot of shows (on any network) this show had intelligence. I can't figure out why U.P.N. dropped this series. It's not like the shows they replaced it with lasted very long anyway. At least the Sci-Fi Channel airs the reruns.
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10/10
A show that dealt with people's senses
dtwet29 September 2006
I watched this show and taped it, I enjoyed it because it dealt with a subject that some people don't believe can actually happen. THe things that Jim, Blair and Simon did in dealing with crime and life were really great. And I was so angry when they took it off the air. If the people in this world who have these senses actually worked with our police force and FBI can you imagine the crimes that would be solved, and the children and people who have been abducted would still maybe be alive. But because Law enforcement and FBI don't understand it, they don't believe it. I loved that show. It would be great if it would come back with all the originals-. It is like people who are blind, their senses are incredible do to the fact that they see with their senses.
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3/10
Coulda Shoulda Wasn't
UltraMaximal13 February 2022
I really wanted to like this show. I really did. But instead of getting better with additional seasons it got worse. The acting and cast were good enough and there was some decent chemistry between them, but where it failed miserably was the writing and directing. Examples being.

Every episode this "Army Ranger" drops or loses his gun.

He is supposed to have super senses but is constantly surprised and knocked out from behind.

4 years of a tag along researcher.

Him travelling all over the country and sometimes different countries and enforcing the law?

Its just laughable and just plain silly.
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10/10
My All Time Favourite Show
titomart627 September 2021
To date this is still my best tv show. Used to air when I was a teen to the point my classmates started calling me "Jim" because of my love for it. Jim Ellison was quite an admirable character. Apart from The Sentinel thing, I loved his crime solving skills and his friendship with Sandburg. He took him in, mentored him more like a big brother together with Simon Banks with his yelling habit and tough cop attitude... The kind of series a person can learn a lot from as well as building character.
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One of the best shows I've seen
annieb11121 April 2003
The Sentinel was one of the best shows I've seen. It managed to tie in credible cop plots with a bit of sci-fi and make it enjoyable. Richard Burgi and Garett Maggart made a great team and it was so nice to see Aussie actress Anna Galvin as Megan with Aussie accent and colloquialisms instead of the usual fake "cockney" types American shows give us a being typically Australian. Nice job Anna. Now if we can could just get them to remake it.
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10/10
The Sentinl Season 2 & 3 ??
ctmcvn752 March 2007
I caught this show by accident when it came out,and was hooked. There was just enough Sci-Fi to keep your imagination active and not too outrageous. Ellison was portrayed as a total Superman like some action stars of the era.

Has anyone heard anything about their release dates? Or has anything been mentioned?

This series was one of the better ones on UPN - shame they didn't keep it going. Does anyone know why they didn't keep it going? Did one of the actors get greedy?

Should anyone hear about future releases please let me know. I will be eagerly awaiting seasons 2 & 3.
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10/10
The greatest show no one remembers.
buggylevan26 September 2023
This show is a superhero TV show. It is a historic, sci-fi, metaphysical, buddy, cop drama.

A cop discovers his ancient sentinel abilities and enlist the help of a local anthropologist to help him get rid of them. But the anthropologist convince him that he must learn to control his abilities, because they are just as much a part of him as breathing.

Learning to control all five of his senses to the 10th power and using them to solve crimes makes this an unprecedented show and The cool thing is that instead of hiding the secret from his boss, by the second episode, his Boss has been made aware of his superhuman abilities.

His Captain decides to keep his secret from the other police officers, including the upper brass at the police department like; the commissioner, and everyone in the district attorney's office. They decide no one should know about his sentinel abilities until he has learned to fully control them.

Some people may see an error in the police procedures, but people forget about how bad police procedures were before 9/11, even in the city where the show is taking place in, Vancouver Canada.

Throughout the show you begin to discover, because his captain is aware of his abilities, he allows Jim and his team to take liberties that other officers can't in order to cover up the superhuman nature in which the crimes were solved.
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Don't judge a book by its cover.
sebg0289412 November 2005
Warning: Spoilers
One of the main reasons I loved this show so much was because of the great contrasts between the two main characters.

Also, as I watched the show I became more and more aware that each of the characters were not quite as they appeared to be. Both of them had very definite personality types but as the show went on it became more and more clear that each of them were anything but 2-dimensional. Where one seemed hard and militaristic, he showed underneath that he was vulnerable and - to a certain extent - incapable of dealing with the effects of changes in his life, without help. The other seemed a typical enthusiastic academic who did not exactly belong in the world of the tough cop, but it shows episode by episode that he has an inner strength, and flexibility that enables him to not only operate well within the environment of police work but also to help the tougher cop with his own problems. They fit together like a hand in a glove and I have rarely come across such a well-fleshed out and dynamic friendship in any other similar shows.
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10/10
UPN's arguably most prestigious show, along with "Malcolm & Eddie"
robert-macc31 January 2024
The WB had neither good TV or prestige, they were lowest rated along with CBS (although at least CBS and "Friends" had culture, but nothing about "Friends" was Warner Bros.ish, and was just like The WB in that regard).

"Voyager" was weak (but that's not what made them bad though, my only iffiness about that show is that Jeri Ryan - a The WB-loving "Friends"-loving "Seinfeld"-hating Allied Nordicist Yankee bigot and a codeless one tat that - joined the show, and the episodes became more centered). Her appearance on this show seemed to have been forgotten by the cast. And with good reason. What "Voyager" was willing to put up with (and that's not by a long shot, because "Voyager" bought ratings for UPN long before "Scorpion II", which aired almost in 1998; I mean it was September 1997, and "Voyager" was almost on the air 3 years in a row before Jeri Ryan), this show wasn't.

Anyways this show is a classic. Jim Ellison (played by Richard Burgi, who also was a major guest on "Seinfeld" - from NBC - just 2 years earlier in "The Hamptons," season 5) is a sentinel (a man with abilities to see and smell and hear beyond just within the immediate proximity, and this could have been part of DC's competitive universe too, given just how DC-like this), who came from the jungles of Peru as a US CORE special unit officer (as the US army is all across the World through the West - South America, North America, the Old world, in general). He teams up with Blair Sandberg, a liberal college professor (although that hippie stereotype of his progresses through time and he rises to the occassion). There is not one bad episode in this show to begin with (not all are prestigious episodes but none were bad). This show really made UPN a long-lasting network even more than "Voyager." In some he's fighting an urban drug gang. In another he's fighting a criminal with multiple personality disorder (and another thing about this show that's good is it's anti-The WB/anti-Tribune bashing as well). News anchors who make life Hell for Jim and Blair gets ripped a new one (as in one episode where an anchor tried to make fun of Jim for not catching the killer). This is a must-see show.
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This was one of the best shows that I have ever watched
Wynner319 February 2002
This show had me glued to the TV every week. I would purposely have that day off so I could see it. I loved this show and then all of a sudden it disappeared and never came back. I was and am disappointed. I would love to see it come back. It was a great show which I thought was doing pretty good.
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A little something for everyone
Kixx26 September 1999
This TV show has a little something for everyone - from explosions and stunts to friendship and even though it had been cancelled from UPN, it's now going to be playing on the Sci Fi Channel starting in October 2000.... maybe if we ask for more episodes, Sci Fi will listen - give The Sentinel a try... you'll enjoy it.
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this great show will return in reruns
Rey-56 August 1999
The Sentinel is a great sci-fi/buddy-buddy/action show about Detective Jim Ellison, a cop with heightened senses, and Blair Sandburg, the anthropology grad-student who helps him control them. It's a wonderful action-packed series, but it has been cancelled. Reruns are still running weekly on UPN, but this may only last until next season of new shows begins this fall (1999). However, reruns will show daily on the Sci-Fi Channel beginning in fall. Check it out!
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Great Feeling About This One!
sofafrog15 August 2000
I've seen only several episodes of this show, but the ones that I have seen I really enjoyed and hope that this show can keep going even though now airs on the scifi channel. This is a show that can you keep you excited throughout its hour of air.
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The only TV show I actually would schedule my life around to watch.
bonjoviqueen18 December 2001
UPN used to run it. Then Sci-Fi channel used to run. Now it's totally disappeared! Question is why? I LOVED THIS SHOW! I always made time to watch this show because it was one of the rare TV shows worth watching. Hell, it was better than Seinfeld and Friends put together. Please put this show back on! The re-runs are worth watching!

Colleen
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The best show.....*ever*
Shelle-526 September 1999
This is one of the most enjoyable shows I've seen. It's real family entertainment, something that Mom and Dad can safely watch with the kids and grandparents and all the family will find something to entertain them.

The only crime is that U.P.N had ditched probably their best show ever.

Thank God for the Sci Fi channel in the U.S, may the marriage between them and The Sentinel be a long and productive one.
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It is a great show
hawk-1522 October 1998
Yes I think that this a great show but the channel here in upstate New York Fox 23 took it off and the web site for UPN who runs the show can't be found by my system and I can't find out why the show is off the air and I hate that. I love the Sentinal and I would cut off my own right arm to see it again but if this is how they want to play their little game then they are not worth watching at all thank you
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